The present invention relates to the field of systems and/or methodologies that deal with organizing data. More particularly, the present invention pertains to systems and/or methodologies that enable pages of data to be added to one or more types of data and then be displayed.
It is known to organize or arrange data in some fashion so that the data is manageable. For example, large amounts of data may be broken down into different types of data. The different types of data can be displayed on a computer system in a tree structure where nodes on the tree correspond to different types of data. Each type of data may include sub-data corresponding to properties of the data type. The sub-data can be referred to as property pages associated with the data type.
By way of illustration, consider that a computer program may be put through a series of tests as the program is developed. For instance, a computer program may be put through one type of test known as a Manual Test and another test known as an Automated Test as the program is being developed. Each of these different tests can be considered a type of data that would be a node within a data tree structure. Because the data types correspond to types of tests, the tree structure may be referred to as a testing tree. The particular computer program being tested can be considered the particular item for which the tests are run. Accordingly, if only one computer program (item) is tested there may be one Manual Test node and one Automated test node on the testing tree. If two programs are tested there may be two Manual Test nodes and two Automated Test nodes on the testing tree (e.g. one for each of the two programs tested). If three programs are tested there may be three Manual Test nodes and three Automated Test nodes on the testing tree (e.g. one for each of the three programs tested). Additionally, a computer program may be put through the same test any suitable number of times. For instance, one particular computer program may be put through a Manual Test four times, which could result in four separate Manual test nodes for that particular program (item). As the number of items increases, the size of the testing tree increases. The size of the testing tree also increases as the number of data types increases. For instance, if a third type of test, known as a Blind Test, exists and three computer programs were put through all three tests, there may be a total of nine nodes on the testing tree (e.g. three Manual Test nodes, three Automated Test nodes and three Blind Test nodes, one for each of the three programs tested). It is to be appreciated, however, that in organizing data not all items necessarily go with all types of data. This can affect the number of nodes within a data tree structure. For instance, each of the computer programs may not necessarily be put through all of the tests (e.g. one of the computer programs may only be put through Manual and Automated Tests, but not the Blind Test). This would alter the number of nodes on the testing tree as a Blind Test node would not exist for this particular computer, program.
Generally sub-data exists that corresponds to and/or describes properties of data types. For instance, sub-data can exist for Manual, Automated and Blind Tests. Because this sub-data corresponds to and/or describes properties of these types of data, chunks of this sub-data can be referred to as property pages for the data types. When data is organized on a computer, these property pages may be displayed to a user so that the user can see some of the organized information. With regard to computer program testing, these property pages may include, for example, data corresponding to how long a test will run, what resources a test will require, who designed a test, how long a test has been running, what percentage of a test has been processed, intermediate test results, how long a test ran, graphs of test results, etc.
Because types of data usually have some general similarities as well as some general differences, some property pages may be applicable to most data types, while other property pages may only be suitable for select data types. For instance, if every type of test (e.g. Manual, Automated, Blind) was designed by the same entity, then the same property pages pertaining to information about this entity may exist for each of these types of tests. Each of these same property pages can, therefore, be displayable on a computer for each of these different types of tests. On the other hand, if the Manual and Automated Tests have some characteristic which is different from a characteristic of the Blind Test, then the Manual and Automated Test can have similar property pages corresponding to this characteristic, while the Blind Test can have different property pages corresponding to its different characteristic. For example, the Manual and Automated Tests can have operating metrics which are different from the operating metrics of the Blind Test. In this instance, the same property pages referring to operating metrics can be associated with the Manual and Automated Tests, while different property pages referring to different operating metrics can be associated with the Blind Test. Furthermore, one or more types of data can include one or more property pages that simply do not apply to another type of data. For instance, one type of data (e.g. Manual Test) can have property pages corresponding to sub-data (e.g. a security protocol) that does not have any application to another type of data (e.g. Automated Test that does not include a security protocol).
It is to be appreciated that particular items can also affect the applicability of property pages. For instance, a particular computer program (item) may have one or more unique characteristics which give rise to property pages which are unique to this particular computer program. As such, these property pages would only be associated with the nodes corresponding to the type of tests that this program was put through. For instance, if this test was run through Manual and Automated Tests, but not a Blind Test, then these unique property pages would only be displayable for the Manual and Automated Test nodes for this particular computer program, but not for the Blind Test and not for any other data types (e.g. Manual, Automated, Blind Tests) that correspond to different computer programs which are tested.
It can be appreciated that as more and more computer programs (items) are developed and are put through different tests during their respective developmental processes, the growth of a testing tree can increase dramatically (e.g. as the number of test nodes increases in proportion to the number of programs that are tested). For example, a very large testing tree with thousands of nodes may easily come into existence. Accordingly, as the number of programs (items) that are tested increases, the difficulty of adding one or more property pages to a type of data (e.g. Manual Test) increases because the number of nodes of that type of data increases. The process can be even more daunting when the one or more property pages are to be added to all types of for each of the items being tested (e.g. all of the tests for each computer program being tested). The process can also be tedious if one or more property pages are to be added to only one type of data for one particular item of interest (e.g. are only to be added to the Manual Test for one particular computer program being tested). This is because all of the nodes of that data type (e.g. Manual Test) may need to be searched through to find the particular item of interest (e.g. the particular computer program that is being put through a Manual Test).
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The present invention mitigates the foregoing shortcomings. In particular, the present invention provides for systems and/or methodologies which mitigate difficulties associated with associating one or more property pages with one or more types of data. Additionally, the present invention provides for systems and/or methodologies which address difficulties associated with associating one or more selectively enableable property pages with a type of data (e.g. Manual Test) for a particular item of interest (e.g. the particular computer program being tested). The present invention also allows the pages to be displayed to a user in response to user input.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a property page plug-in can be utilized to insert or add one or more property pages to one or more types of data. The plug-in utilizes unique identifiers associated with the types of data to designate which types of data the one or more pages are to be inserted into.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a plug-in can also be utilized to add one or more selectively enableable property pages to one or more types of data. Again, the plug-in utilizes unique identifiers associated with the types of data to determine which types of data the one or more selectively enableable pages are to be inserted into.
According to another aspect of the present invention, each of the selectively enableable property pages also have unique identifiers associated with them. These unique identifiers are utilized to determine whether a selectively enableable property page has in fact been enabled for a particular item within a data type.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a folder exists for each type of data and all of the property pages for each type of data are stored within these folders. The identifiers for each type of data are also associated with these folders so that the property pages can be added to these folders.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a control is disclosed that, in response to user input, is adapted to pull property pages from the folders and present them on a display.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, and the present invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.